


Kick Me Like A Stray

by thePetetoherPatrick



Series: Mika's Requests [5]
Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: American Suitehearts AU, Angst, Cute Kids, Death, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff, Imaginary Friends AU, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Loss, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicide Mentioned and Discussed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2018-11-19 15:50:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11316624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thePetetoherPatrick/pseuds/thePetetoherPatrick
Summary: “Shoo, you pest.”He spat and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He was Terra’s guardian, he wasn’t about to let this Nightmare get to her.“Try me, canary man.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DaisukiRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaisukiRose/gifts).



> So this is for ***DaisukiRose*** cause I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head since she said something about American Suitehearts. HOWEVER when have I ever done an AU by the book without putting a twist on it. Come on now. So this is my take on the American Sweethearts AU. I don't know why this got stuck in my head but I kind of love it. 
> 
> Enjoy   
> xoxo

 

Benzedrine kicked his feet against the side of the building. His kid wasn’t asleep yet but she would be soon. He could see the whole town from up here. They would never see him though, he’d accepted that a couple hundred years ago though. He sighed as he felt Terra fall asleep, fitfully as usual. He stood up on the edge of the building, looking down, before he jumped. He closed his eyes and opened them again when he felt the air change around him. He looked around and smiled. Terra was less than two and her room showed that. Everything was soft and pastel. He sat cross legged beside her crib. When she was awake she could see him but right now the most she might be able to do is sense that he’s there. 

 

Kids could see the Dreams but they called them Imaginary Friends. He’d gone through this with so many kids. When they turned three you stopped only coming at night and stayed with them all day. When they turned twelve they stopped being able to see Dreams while they were awake. Some lasted longer. Some lost the sight sooner. The rarest cases were the ones that never stopped seeing. No one was sure how that happened or why, but it only happened to about three in a billion or something like that. 

 

Benzedrine had had so many kids, and so many names. He sighed heavily as he thought about how it would go back to this when she lost the sight. He thought about what she might name him but he could only really take wild guesses at this point. He smile a little when she cooed happily in her sleep. He loved listening to her dream. It was comforting and gentle. He sat and watched her quietly, playing gently with the fabric of her dreams and humming a soft lullaby.

 

~~~~~

 

Benzedrine had almost fallen asleep a few hours later when he felt a chill in the air. He sat up and looked around till he spotted him in the corner. Blurryface was a reoccurring problem with Terra. While Benzedrine was a Dream, Blurryface was a Nightmare. He had a strange fondness for Terra and Benzedrine wasn’t having any of it. 

 

“Shoo, you pest.” 

 

He spat and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He was Terra’s guardian, he wasn’t about to let this Nightmare get to her. 

 

“Try me, canary man.” 

 

He grinned viciously and his red eyes flashed as he mocked Benzedrine’s suit and top hat. Benzedrine pursed his lips and glared hard at Blurryface. For a minute the Nightmare didn’t seem phases but he pushed at him mentally and he squeaked before disappearing. He’d be back another night but for now Terra was safe and that was all he cared about. 

 

~~~~~

 

Benzedrine chuckled as he watched Terra play. She was three and a half now, and he loved staying with her all day. She loved music and playing with her cat, Gypsy. She’d started to notice him but had yet to speak to him. She was a little shy but that was ok. He sat in the corner of her room quietly watching. She tried to waddle away from her mother and fell over, bonking her head on a toy. Her mother scooped her up and cradled her as she cried. There was a knock on the front door that caught her mother’s attention. She set Terra in her crib and went to check it. Benzedrine moved to the crib and scooped her up in his arms. He could only do this when no one was around so he didn’t do it often. He bounced her gently and started singing quietly, and after a minute or two she quieted down. He jumped a little at a scream from the other room of the little mobile home type house. He winced as it cut off with a harsh noise. He shushed Terra and held her tight. He’d been through this with a kid before but it’d been a long time. He’d hoped to never face this with a child again but knew that was unrealistic. 

 

Bob popped into view from wherever he went during the day, looking extremely distressed and like he was in pain. 

 

“What’s going on?” 

 

Benzedrine didn’t say anything, he couldn’t, only nodded towards the other room. Bob went to go look. Benzedrine had been on both sides of this before and both hurt. He heard Bob’s cries as he found his Ashlyn. She’d named Bob when she was little. She was his favourite. Soon the cries no one but he and Terra could hear were mixed with the sound of sirens. Benzedrine sighed and set Terra in her crib, preparing himself to deal with the chaos that was about to ensue. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His smile faded as he noticed the tears on her face. 
> 
> “What’s the matter, little flower?” 
> 
> “Why is he so mean? What did I do to him?”

“Patrick!” 

 

Terra cried as she ran into the room and climbed up in his lap. He smiled warmly down at her. He kind of loved the name she’d given him. His smile faded as he noticed the tears on her face. 

 

“What’s the matter, little flower?” 

 

“Why is he so mean? What did I do to him?”

 

He sighed and looked at her. Eight already and she looked so much like her mother. Everything that’d happened since then had been a disaster, completely and utterly. Ashlyn’s brother was a mess of a man that Patrick wished they could leave in a cloud of dust. He hugged her tight. 

 

“You didn’t do anything. Some people are just not good people.” 

 

She whimpered and cuddled her face into his chest. 

 

“I don’t wanna be here anymore.” 

 

“I know, sweetie, I’d help you if I could. But there is only so much I can do.”

 

He cuddled her and sang to her quietly as he listened down the hall for her Uncle.

 

~~~~~

 

Patrick sighed as he waited for Terra to get home from school. She wasn’t doing so well and gotten in trouble for talking to him so he stayed at home now. Blurryface kept stopping in and Patrick could barely keep him away. He seemed determined to haunt her, more than just in her sleep now. He wasn’t sure what his deal was. 

 

Patrick heard noise outside and suddenly there were people in Terra’s room gathering up her things in bags and boxes. He watched uncertainly and followed them out when they left. When he got outside there were people everywhere and most of them were police officers. Terra’s Uncle was yelling and arguing with one of them as they shoved him in a car. Patrick didn’t know quite what was going on but he didn’t like it. He reached out and felt for Terra frantically, trying to find her so he could know she was alright. He found her after a while at the school and sighed in relief before closing his eyes tightly and willing himself to be by her side. 

 

When he opened his eye again he was standing beside her. She was sitting in the principal’s office by herself, tears dried on her face and little sobs escaping her. He could hear the principal in the other part of the main office, talking to one of the secretaries. Terra looked up and finally noticed him, her eyes lighting up. 

 

“Patrick, you’re here.” 

 

“Of course I am. What’s going on?” 

 

Terra frowned again and looked at her feet. 

 

“They said they were gonna give me a new family. They started asking about Uncle Bert all of a sudden. The officer said he was going to jail if she could have anything to say about it. I’m gonna have a new home.” 

 

She smiled hopefully and Patrick couldn’t help but be happy for her. 

 

“Will you come with me?” 

 

“Of course I will, little flower.” 

 

He hugged her tight and sighed heavily feeling like a weight lifted off his shoulders. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

When they moved Terra he thought it would be the same town. He knew she had no other relatives but he hoped someone would take her in. He was very wrong. They ended up in New Jersey and Terra was put in a group home. It was different from Kansas in many ways but Terra didn’t seem to mind. 

 

She started at a new school and Patrick went with her so she wouldn’t be alone. She couldn’t show that he was there, they already knew this and had had a discussion about it. He’d explained why to her. He kept close to her, sitting beside her desk and thanking everything he wasn’t corporeal to adults as the teacher walked through him a couple of times. Patrick would sit up on his knees and help her with her silent work as long as she didn’t speak. If she had a question she wrote it out on a scrap piece of paper. 

 

_ I don’t understand #3. _

 

She wrote out so he could see it and he chuckled lightly. 

 

“It’s the same as 1 a and b, except bigger numbers. You know how to do it.” 

 

She looked at it for a second and then nodded, looking back at the work and trying to figure it out. He smiled as he watched her work on each new equation. When recess finally came Patrick was in awe. He thought it was strange how few Dreams there was in Terra’s class but it seemed to be something occurring throughout the whole school. He only saw one other Dream in the yard for a while, sitting on the grass weaving dandelions into a tiara. After a while a few more kids came outside and another Dream joined the first on the grass. 

 

The first was a pretty girl with pink and black hair. She wore a cute babydoll dress and what looked like a bib, and knee-high socks. She was the epitome of cute and delicate. The other was a guy dressed in a mix of bright colours and more muted army greens and black. He looked like a post apocalyptic ranger type dude. He even had a gun holster and a bright green gun that Patrick was unsure of. Patrick raised an eyebrow as he watched them. Terra cautiously wandered over to join two boys playing together with some figurines. He wandered over to sit with the Dreams. They seemed excited by his appearance and shifted to include him in a makeshift circle. He sat down and smiled at the girl’s energy and enthusiasm. 

 

“Hi! I’m Cry Baby but my kid calls me Melanie.” 

 

She smiled widely at him, showing off the gap in her front teeth. 

 

“And this is Fun Ghoul. His kid calls him Frank though.” 

 

Frank nodded to him with a small smile, his head tilted slightly down trying to hide a scar that started at the corner of his mouth and went back on his cheek. 

 

“Our kids are brothers so we end up spending a lot of time by ourselves.” 

 

“Why aren’t there many other Dreams?” 

 

“You must’ve come from a smaller town. Between the local Nightmares and the fact that, especially in the city, kids are losing sight of their Dreams at younger and younger ages, there just aren’t as many of us out here as there used to be. They go back home or wait at the kid’s house or watch from a distance and do whatever.” 

 

Melanie shrugged and Frank nodded in agreement before asking. 

 

“What’s your name?” 

 

“Oh, Dr. Benzedrine but Terra calls me Patrick.” 

 

“Oh is she the one over there playing with our boys?” 

 

Melanie asked and pointed to two small boys. One a few years older than the other and with darker hair than the other. They seemed to accept Terra into their little group and were laughing with her. Patrick smiled and nodded happily. 

 

“Yeah that’s Terra.” 

 

“She’s sweet, she’s got a strong aura to her.” 

 

Melanie giggled and watched her with the boys. Patrick was glad she’d made some friends. The younger one was about her age, while the dark haired boy was a few years older. He looked almost old enough to be close to forgetting his Dream. 

 

“How old is the dark haired one?” 

 

Frank spoke up and turned towards Patrick. 

 

“That’s Gerard, he’s my kid. He’s eleven.” 

 

His smile was wide and happy, his eyes full of love for the kid. Patrick loved seeing Dreams that truly loved their kids. He was certain these Dreams would be good friends to keep in their new home. He watched Terra as she giggled and played freely for the first time in a long time. It warmed his heart and made him smile. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You. I thought we left you in Kansas.” 
> 
> “You thought I wouldn’t follow that little spark?” 
> 
> Blurryface glanced over at Terra’s sleeping face. Patrick glared hard at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehhhhhhhhhh more of this AU. I seriously love this AU and everything about it. I might have to rearrange some tags and stuff but I've definitely got some things in store for you guys with this.

 

Patrick was kind of glad that she wasn’t in the group home long but he also wasn’t sure about her new foster home. It was a nice enough apartment he supposed and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong but something just felt off and he didn’t like it. He sat by Terra’s bed in her little room, waiting for her to finish getting ready for bed. She wandered in already in her pajamas but her hair was a mess. 

 

“Terra that’s going to knot.” 

 

She made an indignant noise and crawled onto the bed. Patrick shook his head and grabbed her brush. He sat behind her and gently brushed out all the tangles and knots from her hair before tucking her in. He gently kissed her forehead and smiled that she seemed to finally be at ease. 

 

“Can you sing to me, Patrick? Please?” 

 

He smiled and settled on the floor beside the head of her bed. He hummed her favourite tune and she curled up, reaching her hand out to him. The took her tiny hand in his and sang to her softly until she fell asleep. He smiled and sat back against the wall to endure the quiet noise of the night in the city. It was so different, so many more people than their little town in Kansas. He was glad to be so far away from there though. He remembered what Melanie had said about Nightmares and he worried a bit. Terra had always attracted Blurryface so strongly and it made him wonder about the Nightmares here. 

 

He heard a little chuckle and his eyes shot up to look over at the corner where the darkness hid whatever was there apart from the haunting glowing red eyes that were all too familiar to Patrick. He sat up and glared at the creature crouched there. 

 

“You. I thought we left you in Kansas.” 

 

“You thought I wouldn’t follow that little spark?” 

 

Blurryface glanced over at Terra’s sleeping face. Patrick glared hard at him. 

 

“You won’t touch her.” 

 

“Oh I won’t? Really I don’t need to  _ touch _ her...you should know that.”

 

He chuckled maniacally and moved over closer to Terra’s bed, Patrick moving to block him. Blurryface only grinned and flung his hand out, casting something over onto her. Patrick growled at him as he disappeared and spun around to see black dust disappearing on Terra’s skin. He watched as she stirred and became fitful in her sleep. Blurryface had corrupted her dreams again, given her nightmares to haunt her. Patrick sighed and scooped her up into his arms, cradling her close and trying to soothe her cries. Quieting her at least and hoping his closeness would be enough to get rid of the nightmares clouding her head. 

 

~~~~~

 

It was a long night and when Terra woke up clinging to Patrick. He held her tightly and shushed her gently. 

 

“It’s alright, little flower. It’s just a nightmare, it’s not real, you’re ok.” 

 

She snuggled her face into him and whimpered softly. 

 

“Patrick...he...I…” 

 

“It’s ok.” 

 

He sighed and then he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He gently set her down and tucked her back in before ducking under her bed. Her foster mother came into her room and flicked on the light. 

 

“Get up, time for school. Why are you crying? Get out of bed.” 

 

Her voice was filled with irritation and Patrick didn’t like the sound of it or the way it grated against his ears. This did not bode well if this was what this woman was going to be like. Terra wiped away her tears and pushed herself out of the bed and stood in front of her with her head bowed. 

 

“‘M sorry.” 

 

The woman froze and her face fell, she kneeled down to be Terra’s height and pulled her into a hug. 

 

“No, don’t be sorry, what’s wrong? You can talk to me, I’m sorry I sounded angry.” 

 

“B-bad dream…” 

 

“Oh, do you want to tell me about it?” 

 

Terra shook her head. 

 

“You might feel better if you talk about it.” 

 

Terra looked at her and seemed to think it over, before accepting that the woman might be right. 

 

“It was a-about my Uncle B-bert.” 

 

“He can’t hurt you anymore, you’re safe here.” 

 

“I-in my d-dream he f-found me. He w-was so m-mad.” 

 

“I promise you he won’t. He’s locked up far away and I won’t let him near you.” 

 

She hugged Terra tight.

 

“Let’s get you ready for school. There’s breakfast waiting for you.” 

 

She stood up and left Terra to attend to whatever was waiting in the kitchen. Patrick sighed and waited for Terra to pat the bed like she always did when she finished getting dressed. He slid out from under the bed, and sat cross-legged on the floor beside it. She crawled into his lap and he wiped away her tears. 

 

“It’ll be ok, Terra, he won’t find you here.” 

 

“I thought you gave me good dreams.” 

 

Patrick looked at her and sighed. 

 

“I’ll explain it to you when I get a chance, okay? Right now you’ve gotta get ready to go.” 

 

Terra nodded and let Patrick stand up with her. He followed her out to the kitchen and smiled at the pancakes and strawberries waiting for her. She seemed to perk up a bit at the sight of them too. He smiled warmly as she climbed up onto the chair and sat up to eat as the woman placed a glass of milk in front of her. She sat down with Terra to eat her own pancakes and what looked like a cup of coffee. 

 

“I’ll be dropping you off at school, ok?” 

 

The woman, Patrick was really trying to remember her name, said between bites of pancakes and Terra nodded. 

 

“I’ve got a couple of chores I want you to do everyday when you get home, homework done before dinner, and bedtime at nine. Sound fair?” 

 

“Yes…” 

 

“Hayley, you can call me Hayley.” 

 

“Yes, Hayley. Thank you.” 

 

Terra nodded. None of it sounded unreasonable to Patrick. Standard as far as household rules went, even the group home though that had been a little more strict. Bert had been worse. Even the other kids Patrick had had were given more rules. Patrick was sure there were other things but this was all that was immediately important enough to announce. They ate quietly but it was a comfortable quiet between them and Patrick felt a little better about all of this. 

 

“They told me you didn’t have much in the way of school stuff so I got a backpack of stuff you need by the door and some new shoes because yours were falling apart.” 

 

Terra looked up at her in surprise. 

 

“Oh…..thank you…” 

 

“You finish up your pancakes, I’m going to go get dressed.” 

 

Hayley took her dishes to the sink and went back towards her bedroom to get ready. Patrick took her seat and hoped she wouldn’t want it back. 

 

“What do you think so far, little flower? You look kind of lost.” 

 

“She’s...nice? I…” 

 

“I know. You’ll get used to it. She’s just taking care of you.” 

 

Terra nodded and took another bite of the pancakes. 

 

“She makes good pancakes.” 

 

“Well I’d say that’s a good sign.” 

 

Patrick smiled at her and managed to get her to crack a smile before she focused back on her food so she could be ready to go to school when Hayley came back. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always online somewhere if you wanna chat...  
> you can find me @ thePetetoherPat on Twitter and thepetetoherpatrick.tumblr.com ^-^
> 
> hit me up whenever xoxo


End file.
